August [#113texts] Mentor Text Submission
Over the next six months I am participating in a mentor text challenge hosted by the San Diego Area Writing Project (SDAWP). The goal of the project is to generate a detailed collection of quality mentor texts that teachers can use with students to enhance writing. Each month bloggers will link up to a main site to share great mentor texts and how they can be used with students. While I haven’t taught in a classroom of my own in many years, I work with coaches and teachers daily and believe that the use of mentor texts can strengthen writing instruction at all levels.
My submission for the August Link Up is Love That Dog by Sharon Creech. I must first say that I love EVERYTHING ever written by Sharon Creech. Having said that, I must say that this novel holds a special place in my heart.
This novel is told through diary entries and poems, written by the main character, Jack, as well as poems written by famous authors and studied by the main character. The first page is how I always hooked in my reluctant writers :
Who wouldn’t want to keep reading after this opening? Who wouldn’t want to discuss what the author has already done from the first page?
According to Scholastic, the publisher of this novel, the reading level is equivalent to grade 4.9, with a Lexile Measure of 1010L, a DRA level of 50 and a guided reading level of T. They list an interest level of grades 6-8. I can attest to this, as I used this in my middle school language arts class in support of a variety of writing units.
One year I used Love that Dog as a mentor text for writing poetry. Another year I used the story as a mentor text to discuss how writers can develop characters in ways other than descriptive detail or dialogue. As a coach working with teachers, this book can be used as a mentor text about mentor texts! The entire story is Jack’s side of a year-long dialogue with his teacher, who uses poems as mentor texts. Jack’s teacher then helps him tell his own story through poetry, guiding him to view his words as poetry with value.
As a mentor text studying poetry, these lines always stood out:
- “Some of the tiger sounds are still in my ears like drums beat-beat-beating.”
- “My brain was pop-pop-popping when I was looking at those poems. I never knew a poet person could do that funny kind of thing.”
As a mentor text for teachers new to using mentor texts and/or teaching writing, check out what the teacher in this book does:
- “Yes you can put the two blue-car poems on the board but only if you don’t put my name on them… They look nice typed up like that on blue paper…”
- “Why do you want to type up what I wrote about reading the small poem? It’s not a poem. Is it?”
- “Maybe you could show me how to use the computer and then I could type up my own words?”
Love that Dog is a sweet novel that can be read in one quick sitting by an adult. I encourage you to read it and find the best ways you could use it as a mentor text to meet the needs of your classroom of writers. I’d love to hear how it goes!
Other Mentor Text posts:
Day 7: Skyline
Throughout this month I’m participating in the August Break 2013.
The suggestion for day 7 is skyline. Looking through old photos it is clear that I enjoy taking pictures of skylines! Here are a few from cities I’ve lived in or visited!
San Diego
New York City
Chicago
Sydney, Australia, from the Sydney Harbor Bridge
Day 6: Diagonals
Throughout this month I’m participating in the August Break 2013.
The suggestion for day 6 is diagonals. I have to admit that I struggled to see diagonals today. It wasn’t until a new friend pointed out something right in front of me that I was able to look at my surroundings differently. This August Break is presenting a new, exciting challenge for me and I appreciate it!
Day 5: Close up
Throughout this month I’m participating in the August Break 2013. I am really enjoying the break from writing and the fun of taking pictures to share instead, though I have yet to post an entirely wordless post (possible self-challenge?!).
The suggestion for day 5 is close up. Here is one work-related and three non-work related close-ups from today. Enjoy!
My work close up for the day
Day 4: Love
Throughout this month I’m participating in the August Break 2013.
The suggestion for day 4 is love. I recently created a board on pinterest called What makes me smile, which is really about the things I love. Add in pictures of my friends, family, vacations, and work and you’ve got me singing “These are a few of my favorite things”!
Below are two pictures that especially make me think of the word love. 🙂 
Day 3: Yellow
Throughout this month I’m participating in the August Break 2013.
The suggestion for day 3 was yellow. I know from following my colleague’s blog over the last month, if you look hard enough you can find random colors all around you. Today I’m going to share pictures that tell the story of my day, with some yellow interspersed! Hope you enjoy!
Much needed morning yoga
Hours of dissertation writing
Hard-earned happy hour view!
Throughout this month I’m participating in the August Break 2013.
Day 2’s idea was circles. I looked for circles throughout my day and found them all over! I also learned how to play with #Instaframe.
Joining the August Break 2013
Today I learned about the August Break by reading this blog by Lisa (@TeachingwithSoul). The August Break was created by Susannah Conway and you can read all about it here. Basically, it’s a daily photo challenge, but as formal or informal as you want it to be. The August Break allows you to take a break from writing/ blogging while looking at life a little differently, through a camera lens. You post pictures… one a day or as many as you want throughout the month.
I was inspired to join the challenge not because I need a break from my sporadic blog writing, but because I enjoy taking pictures and would like to use my pictures to tell a story this month. My pictures may or may not have a link to learning and leading, but I know they will enhance my reflective practices (still a work in progress) and my desire to strive for balance in my life. So, here goes…
These are pictures of my latest adventure… trying to keep plants alive and figuring out how to grow fresh herbs on my tiny balcony.
The Habit of Reflection
I have written about the value of taking time to reflect before. In that post I shared my desire to develop a habit of reflecting. I’m back today to revisit the idea by sharing two resources that have helped me cultivate that habit.
A colleague gave me the book Leading Every Day: 124 Actions for Effective Leadership by Joyce Kaser, Susan Mundry, Katherine E. Stiles, and Susan Loucks-Horsley.
This book is structured in a user-friendly way with built-in reflection questions. Each day has a leadership topic, a relevant quote and 2-4 paragraphs about the topic. The authors then provide a list of reflective questions to consider (as well as blank space to actually write in the book if you want!). I carve out time every morning I can to read at least one “day” and record my reflections in my working journal. This practice has helped me build a better habit of reflecting and has exposed me to a wide variety of leadership quotes and resources. I encourage anyone interested to use this book, or something similar, to build a reflection habit.
Another colleague gave me this jar as a gift: Wisdom, Quotes, Inspiration.
Not only do I love the sea theme (I am a Jersey Shore girl by nature!) and the fact that it was a creative, unexpected gift, but it has been a great source of reflection. Each day I take out one quote to read and reflect on, adding to my reflective journal. I have been a collector of quotes for decades, but not knowing what quotes may appear has made me truly stop, read, and think about each and every quote. Not only do I wonder about the meaning of the quote within my life and work, but I wonder about the relevance of the quote in the life of the person who gave me this jar. In my first week I have read quotes that I know and love as well as quotes I had never seen. I encourage you to consider creating this type of gift for someone else, as there is power in the words you find to be meaningful.
- Have you developed a reflection habit?
- What has helped you?
Here are some other bloggers thoughts on reflection:
- The Power of Reflection
- You can close the door sometimes
- Making time for reflection
- Washington Post article on leadership and reflection
- Not to mention all of the blogs with the word reflection in their name (there are too many to list and I enjoy so many of them!)
